Yamaha Corporation (7951) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

My name is Shomon, and I will now present the financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027. First, please turn to Page 1. This page summarizes the key points of our earnings announcement regarding the overview. Revenue increased due to a recovery in musical instrument sales and a weakening yen. Despite higher procurement costs, core operating profit increased, driven by an improved product mix resulting from growth in digital musical instruments, price optimization and favorable exchange rates. Regarding our full year earnings outlook, while uncertainties remain, such as rising procurement costs and the situation in the Middle East, we are maintaining our previous forecast for May 2026 for revenue and core operating profit, supported by further price optimization efforts and a weaker yen. However, we are revising our net profit forecast upward from the previous estimate following the refund of U.S. tariffs. Please turn to the next page. The performance summary is next. Please turn to the next page, Page 3. This is the business performance summary. Revenue was JPY 116.3 billion, an increase of JPY 12.4 billion from the previous year, representing a 12% rise. Excluding the impact of exchange rates, revenue increased by 2.9% from the previous year. Core operating profit was JPY 9.3 billion, an increase of JPY 4.6 billion from the previous year or 97.7%. Net profit was JPY 10.7 billion. This includes JPY 4.3 billion in other income representing U.S. tariff refunds that have already been completed or finalized, resulting in an increase of JPY 8.3 billion from the previous year, a 348.8% rise or approximately 4.5x the previous year's figure. Please turn to the next page. This is a waterfall chart showing the factors contributing to the change in core operating profit. Core operating profit for the first quarter of the previous fiscal year was JPY 4.7 billion, as shown on the far left. For the first quarter of the current fiscal year, core operating profit stood at JPY 9.3 billion. This was the result of several factors: an increase of JPY 3.0 billion due to exchange rates, a decrease of JPY 1.2 billion due to rising costs, particularly for memory chips, an increase of JPY 4.0 billion from higher revenue and production driven by new products and price optimization, an increase of JPY 0.6 billion from structural reforms, a decrease of JPY 1.4 billion due to higher SG&A expenses and a decrease of JPY 0.4 billion from other business segments. We are currently promoting price optimization to reflect rising procurement costs. Based on price levels as of the end of June, we anticipate that the price adjustment range for the full year will be 1.3% for the Musical Instruments business and 1.7% for the audio equipment business. However, since we have implemented or are scheduled to implement full-scale price optimization from July onwards and since we will continue to reflect future increases in procurement costs and our prices, we expect this price adjustment range to widen. Please turn to the next page, Page 5. This page shows our performance by business segment. Revenue for the Musical Instruments business was JPY 77.7 billion, an increase of JPY 11.1 billion from the previous year. This increase held true even after excluding the positive impact of exchange rates of JPY 6.6 billion. Core operating profit was JPY 6.5 billion, an increase of JPY 4.4 billion from the previous year. This increase also held true even after excluding the positive impact of exchange rates of JPY 2.3 billion. Revenue for the Audio Equipment business was JPY 35.0 billion, an increase of JPY 2.0 billion from the previous year. Core operating profit was JPY 2.8 billion, an increase of JPY 0.5 billion from the previous year. However, excluding the positive impact of exchange rates, revenue and core operating profit both declined slightly. Revenue from other businesses was JPY 3.7 billion, a decrease of JPY 0.7 billion from the previous year. Core operating profit was JPY 0 billion, a decrease of JPY 0.3 billion from the previous year. Moving on to the next page, Page 6. This slide shows our progress for the first quarter. Firstly, in terms of sales performance in the first quarter, as I mentioned earlier, sales increased by 12% year-over-year and by 2.9% when the impact of foreign exchange rates was excluded. This indicates steady progress in line with our plan. We believe this is due not only to the timely launch of new products as planned, but also to the growing impact of our price optimization efforts. Starting in July, we plan to further accelerate our price optimization efforts further. The bottom section of the slide showcases our new products from the first quarter. revenue from major new products centered on these models exceeded JPY 6 billion in the first quarter. The B Series Upright pianos launched in January 2026 have got off to a strong start as expected and now account for 16% of our Upright piano revenue. We have also launched many new digital musical instruments. In the Electone, we launched the new ELS03 series in February 2026, which has been very well received, and we are receiving orders from many customers. We are also expanding our portable keyboard lineup, including models designed specifically for the Indian market and are experiencing significant sales growth in Asia and South America. Furthermore, we launched the YDP-166 YDP-146 digital pianos in June, and revenue from these models accounts for 17% of our digital musical instruments. In the audio equipment for consumer use, we also launched the RX300 AV receiver in June. In the audio equipment for professional use, we launched series such as the DXR mk3 PA speaker series in June. These products have been well received and account for a significant share of revenue within their respective categories. Thus, regarding our first quarter results, we believe that new product launches, particularly pianos and digital musical instruments in the musical instruments business and for professional use in the audio equipment business had a significant impact. Furthermore, starting in the second quarter, we plan to introduce 31 new musical instrument models to the market, and we expect them to contribute to sales growth. We also have high hopes for new mixer models in the audio equipment segment. Please turn to the next page, Page 7. Next, we'll cover our earnings forecast. As previously explained, we are maintaining our revenue and core operating profit forecast from our previous forecast in May 2026 without change. However, we are revising our net profit forecast upwards to reflect JPY 4.3 billion in the U.S. tariff refunds that have already been completed or finalized. We have also updated our ROE and ROIC forecasts accordingly. In our previous forecast, we projected cost increases of JPY 7.7 billion. Of that amount, JPY 7.0 billion was attributed to higher procurement costs for memory chips, nonferrous metals, resins and other materials. Currently, we anticipate an additional JPY 3.5 billion in procurement cost increases, bringing the total projected cost increase to JPY 10.5 billion. Additionally, we expect to absorb factors that will reduce profits. such as an extra JPY 400 million due to higher U.S. tariff rates and an extra JPY 1 billion due to rising logistics costs through further price optimization and the continued launch of new products. The first quarter got off to a solid start. And while we are on track to achieve our full year earnings forecast, we remain committed to firmly achieving an annual core operating profit of JPY 38 billion. However, should we determine that it is necessary to revise the full year earnings forecast, we will notify you promptly. Please turn to the next page, Page 8. This shows our earnings forecast by business segment. As these forecasts are the same as our previous projections, I will not provide any further explanation. The next page, Page 9, begins with an overview by business segment. Please turn to the next page, Page 10. Firstly, the Musical Instruments business. Revenue increased across all product categories in the first quarter. Revenue for pianos increased as regions outside of China recovered. Revenue increased for digital musical instruments, thanks to new products, with growth seen in all regions. Revenue increased for wind, strings and percussion instruments as demand remains strong. Revenue for guitars increased as double-digit growth continued in North America, Europe and other regions. Regarding our full year outlook, there are no changes to our revenue growth forecast for any product category or region. For pianos, sales are expected to increase with the launch of a new Upright series. For digital musical instruments, we expect to maintain our leading market share. For winds, strings and percussion instruments, we anticipate continued strong demand, and we forecast further growth for guitars. Please turn to the next page, Page 11. This page shows the sales performance of our major products. I will not go into detail here, but revenue has increased in all categories, even when excluding the impact of exchange rates. Please turn to the next page, Page 12. This shows sales performance by region. Excluding the impact of exchange rates, revenue in China decreased due to a pullback from the strong guitar sales of the previous year. However, revenue increased in other regions outside China with other regions posting particularly strong double-digit growth. Please turn to the next page, Page 13. Next, we'll cover the audio equipment business. In the first quarter, both audio equipment for consumer use and audio equipment for professional use performed weakly. Revenue for audio equipment for consumer use decreased due to sluggish home audio sales. Although there was an increase in speaker sales for professional use, revenue decreased due to poor performance in Europe and China. Conversely, audio equipment for mobility use experienced growth in regions outside China, which offset the decline in China, resulting in double-digit revenue growth even after adjusting for the impact of exchange rates. Regarding our full year outlook, our forecast remains unchanged. We expect to return to a growth trajectory and achieve revenue growth. Please turn to the next page, Page 14. This page shows the sales performance of our major products. As I have already explained this, I will omit further details here. Next, please turn to Page 15. This page shows sales performance by region. Excluding the impact of exchange rates, revenue increased in Japan, North America and other regions. However, due in part to economic downturns, revenue decreased in Europe and China when excluding the impact of exchange rates. The next page is 16. Now we'll look at other businesses. In the first quarter, revenue decreased for both automobile interior wood components and factory automation equipment. However, regarding the full year forecast, while FA equipment is expected to grow, there has been no change to the forecast of a revenue decline due to the discontinuation of the Golf Products business. Please turn to Page 17. I will now explain the other financial figures, starting on the next page. Please turn to Page 18. This is the balance sheet. The figures shown are compared with those at end of the previous fiscal year. Total assets amounted to JPY 638.9 billion, which is an increase of JPY 21.4 billion since the end of March 2026. By account category, on the asset side, cash and cash equivalents increased by JPY 12.0 billion to reach JPY 120.9 billion due to the collection of trade receivables. Trade and other receivables totaled JPY 78.9 billion as other receivables decreased by JPY 8.8 billion due to seasonal fluctuations. Other financial assets increased by JPY 1.8 billion to reach JPY 6.0 billion, primarily due to time deposits. Inventories rose by JPY 8.8 billion to reach JPY 161.0 billion, driven by new product inventory and exchange rate fluctuations. Other current assets remained unchanged at JPY 11.8 billion. Noncurrent assets increased by JPY 7.7 billion to reach JPY 260.3 billion, primarily due to changes in the market value of held stocks and pension assets. On the liabilities and equity side, current liabilities increased by JPY 4.8 billion to JPY 102.8 billion, primarily due to short-term interest-bearing debt secured to ensure liquidity. Noncurrent liabilities increased by JPY 1.7 billion to JPY 41.6 billion, mainly due to deferred tax liabilities resulting from changes in the market value of held shares. Total equity increased by JPY 14.8 billion to JPY 494.5 billion, driven by net profit and foreign currency translation adjustments. Please turn to the next page, Page 19. This page shows the forecast for ROE and ROIC in FY 2027 as well as the shareholder returns and the status of cross holdings. Due to the upward revision of the net profit forecast, the ROE forecast for FY 2027 has increased from 5.7% to 6.3%, while the ROIC forecast has decreased from 5.4% to 5.3%. Please turn to the next page, Page 20. This page shows our cash allocation and strategic investments. There are 4 bar charts on the left. The 2 outer bars represent the cash allocation plan outlined in our midterm management plan, rebuild and evolve for fiscal years 2026 through 2028, which we announced in May 2025. The leftmost bar represents cash inflows and the rightmost bar represents cash outflows. The 2 inner bar charts show the actual results for the first year, fiscal year 2026. The left-hand chart represents cash inflows and the right-hand chart represents cash outflows. Cash inflows for fiscal year 2026 totaled JPY 42.1 billion, consisting of core operating profit of JPY 23.7 billion, proceeds from the sale of cross shareholdings of JPY 4.3 billion and depreciation expenses of JPY 14.1 billion. We allocated JPY 4.6 billion to strategic investments, JPY 26.8 billion to shareholder returns through dividends and share buybacks and JPY 11.4 billion to regular investments. This resulted in total cash outflows of JPY 42.8 billion, giving a total return ratio of 112% regular investments remained below the level of depreciation, progressing as expected. However, as you can see, we recognize that one of our major challenges is the proactive execution of strategic investments. To accelerate strategic investments, we are, therefore, working with a sense of urgency to establish governance frameworks, such as an investment committee for strategic investments, centrally manage project lists and set investment limits and evaluation criteria. As a result of these efforts, we intend to move forward at an early stage with initiatives such as market expansion in India and the ASEAN region, accelerating growth in the audio equipment business, expanding our presence in the audio equipment sector and new business areas, venture investments to realize challenges that create the future and ESG investments in areas such as sustainability and human capital. Furthermore, in pursuing strategic investments, we anticipate utilizing debt capacity as necessary. However, we will use the net debt-to-equity ratio, equity ratio, net interest-bearing debt and EBITDA multiple as KPIs for financial soundness, and we will maintain an A credit rating as a prerequisite. Please turn to the next page, Page 21. This slide shows the first quarter results and the full year forecast for capital expenditure, depreciation and research and development expenses. The first quarter results were in line with the plan, and the full year forecast remains unchanged. Please turn to the next page, Page 22. We'll then cover some key topics. Please turn to the next page, Page 23. Here, I would like to discuss the status of the key themes in our midterm management plan. Firstly, with regard to rebuilding a strong business foundation, as I explained earlier, we have successfully launched highly anticipated new products and services that pursue intrinsic product value derived from the combination of technology and sensibilities. We have also made progress on price optimization as planned. We will continue these efforts in the second quarter and beyond. Regarding evolving to create the future, specifically our efforts to create new value, we are once again presenting new value propositions based on proprietary technologies this fiscal year. These include sound XR Core in professional audio, music AI for lighting in mobility audio and a smartphone-based receiver in new business development. Additionally, Yamaha Music Innovations, YMI based in Silicon Valley, has begun a strategic collaboration with the International Society for Music Education, taking advantage of the growing popularity of Yamaha Creator Pass, an integrated platform for creators, we have announced that we will jointly host the Global Student Creator Challenge, an international contest for student creators utilizing Yamaha Creator Pass. In terms of setting sustainability as a source of value, we are continuing to expand our initiatives to promote music education in emerging countries. Since July 2026, we have been running a pilot program introducing music education using recorders in public elementary schools in India. The following photo shows a teacher training session held in conjunction with the pilot program. Finally, please turn to the next page, Page 24. With regard to corporate governance, I am pleased to report that the company is now being guided by the Board of Directors under its new leadership, including Ms. Kerrie Waring, who was appointed at the shareholders' meeting in June. That concludes my presentation.